Okay, I have to start with my fav chicken fried song to get this party started. And yes, AMY, this song IS country. (She's been a little confused...the girl thought Steven Tyler was a country artist). Click the link below to enjoy while I tell you about my proud moment last night when Amanda and I successfully pulled off a delish Texan dinner as a thank you!
As anybody that knows me knows.....I HATE to cook! Every time my mom and sister are in the kitchen you can find me hiding somewhere. Thanksgiving and Christmas...I'm watching football with the boys. Any other day, I'm doing anything BUT helping in the kitchen. I just hate everything about it....except eating the finished product. That part I certainly love and am willing to suddenly pop into the kitchen for :) I mean, my older sister is basically Betty Crocker, and I live in a city where I can get anything I dream of made for me quickly. Even the grocery stores are full of deliciously fresh, precooked meals....thank you Market Street!
No joke, when my family dropped me off at college they had to give me a How to Microwave 101 lesson. Apparently you can't put a can of Spaghettios straight in the mic. Who knew?!
That said, I DO secretly have the capability of cooking. Only for very special or desperate occasions do I let this secret be known. I thought a month of taking me in and taking care of me in Bahrain was such an occasion. So, I told Amanda we were cooking a southern meal and she was to be my sou chef. (I think I get bossy when I make up my mind about something. Wonder where I get that....JENNIFER?!?)
We decided on a menu of chicken fried steak, white gravy, green bean bundles, cornbread casserole, peach cobbler, & vanilla ice cream. Due to the lack of finding the same ingredients here in Bahrain, we had no choice but to make everything from scratch. And when I say scratch, I mean we had to get creative.
My heart sank when I realized everywhere in the world does not sell the reliable old Jiffy box. I found a copycat recipe online to make my own Jiffy, but it called for cornmeal and they didn't even have THAT here. So, I found a cornmeal substitute and they didn't even have THOSE options at the grocery here. We ended up mixing flour with couscous to substitute for cornmeal, thank you Internet for that save!
It took about 2.5 hours, and a little bit of me turning into Hell's Kitchen on Amanda, but we got it all done. And I was proud that I got to teach Amanda how to make gravy from scratch using the fat drippings...oh yes...that's the good stuff!
After everyone ate, we had a good time explaining that all in all 4 sticks of butter and a bag of sugar were used. Not to mention frying, fats, and all the other good stuff that those of us that love some country cooking know makes it TO DIE FOR! This just brings back memories of my 5ft tall grandmother making yams and adding stick after stick of butter and a scary amount of brown sugar. It's just how you make stuff good. Little southern cooking secret.
No one had tried any of these dishes before and the verdict was......they LOVED it! It made me so happy since I was a bit nervous with all the substitutions that it may not work out. I knew it was a success when everyone sat down on the couch and was so stuffed they couldn't move. Voila!
So, yes, I cooked. No, I will not cook when I get home. And though I know my mom and my sister are probably jumping up and down at the thought of me helping in the kitchen for Thanksgiving this year....it ain't happenin sistah!
I did learn one thing though: It is fun to show people where you come from. Things you enjoy from home. Share things they have never experienced. However, after dinner we couldn't convince them to complete our Texas evening with the 3:30am opening game of the NFL Season.....COWBOYS vs Giants! Amanda and I went to watch anyway. We may have gotten home at 7am, but it was well worth staying up all night long to watch the Boys start the season with a win! And a win over the Giants nonetheless. WOO HOO!
And just so all you that doubt that I didn't just go buy this stuff and serve it, here's a few pics for evidence. Yeeeeeeeeeah!
Cornbread casserole, chicken fried steak cooking, & starting the gravy from scratch
Green bean bundles ready for sauce & peaches ready to boil with sugar for cobbler
Making Paula Dean proud with a *little* bit of butter to get the cobbler party started!
Cobbler ready to pop into the oven with all it's buttery, sugary, peachy goodness!
And I can't post a picture of the final table setting because my sou chef AMANDA didn't set the table correctly and I know my mother and sister would call me out on that! (See why I had to yell at the sou so much?!) :) Just Kidding, Amanda: We made a great team!
Okay, enough chicken fried talk. Tomorrow I take you to...the mosque! LOVE XOXO!
You go girl! We all knew you had it in you!
ReplyDeleteYummy, good job!
ReplyDeleteWow! All this time you've been playing me...now I'm totally expecting big time help in the kitchen ;-) Game on! Better get to thinking about your Thanksgiving Day offerings!
ReplyDelete